Red Sox Journal: Victorino a game-time decision for opener

BALTIMORE — The Red Sox won’t know the Opening Day status of right fielder Shane Victorino until Monday morning.After flying with the team to Baltimore on Saturday, Victorino traveled north to Boston...

BALTIMORE — The Red Sox won’t know the Opening Day status of right fielder Shane Victorino until Monday morning.

After flying with the team to Baltimore on Saturday, Victorino traveled north to Boston on Sunday in order to get an MRI on the right hamstring he injured in the spring training finale. Victorino won’t undergo a complete examination until Monday morning.

Manager John Farrell said there should be time for Victorino to get to Baltimore in time for the 3 p.m. start if he’s ruled healthy in the morning. If not, he could open the season on the disabled list. Farrell ruled Victorino “questionable” for the Monday opener.

“You’ve got to remain aware that you might have to change on the fly,” Farrell said. “But when he’s on the field, we’re talking about a Gold Glove winner in right field. … If he’s not available to us, we’ll certainly miss him.”

Victorino’s spring had been slowed earlier by his return from offseason thumb surgery and core-strengthening issues. The hamstring, which nagged him throughout 2013, had not been a problem until Saturday.

If Victorino can’t play, the Red Sox can slide Daniel Nava to right field and start either Jonny Gomes or Mike Carp in left. (With righty Chris Tillman on the hill for Baltimore, Carp might be the safer bet.) If Victorino requires the full 15 days on the disabled list, Jackie Bradley Jr. would be the obvious call-up.

Since Victorino started a major-league spring-training game on Saturday, Boston would not be able to backdate a potential trip to the disabled list any earlier than that. That means a trip to the DL would keep Victorino on the sideline for the first two weeks of the season.

The real deal at last

For David Ortiz, Opening Day means an end to the tedium of spring training and the commencement of games that matter. For Jon Lester, Opening Day means a chance to set a tone for the rest of the pitching staff to follow.

For Farrell, Opening Day is a chance to put into action everything he and his coaching staff have preached for the last six weeks to the defending World Series champions.

“Over the last probably four or five games, there’s been a little bit more of an edge that has been present in our dugout,” the manager said. “Guys are eager to get going. We came in not entitled to anything. That goes from our work to what we expect as a group. That work continued to be strong throughout camp. We’re looking forward to the challenges starting tomorrow.”

“It’s a different story now,” said Ortiz, who had just two hits in Grapefruit League games. “It’s the season.”

By the end of April last year, the Red Sox were 10 games over .500 and had a six-game cushion on the Tampa Bay Rays. From May 1 onward, Tampa Bay actually had a slightly better record than Boston but couldn’t overcome that early deficit.

The reverse was true in 2011. The September collapse is the legacy that team left, but even a 7-20 final month would have been enough to get those underachieving Red Sox to the playoffs had they not gone 11-15 in April.

October might feel far away now, but a poor start in March and April can all but preclude a run at the playoffs. Of last year’s six division winners, only the Los Angeles Dodgers — reinforced by Yasiel Puig in early June — weren’t at least four games over .500 at the end of April.

If the Red Sox are going to repeat as World Series champions, it starts Monday at Camden Yards.

“We don’t know what the next 180 days are going to bring us, but we’re looking forward to getting that started,” Farrell said. “Tomorrow is a very special day.”

A first for Bogaerts

A year after starting the season at Double A, Xander Bogaerts will be the Opening Day shortstop for the Red Sox on Monday. This would be a remarkable leap, if not for the fact that Bogaerts has already been Boston’s World Series third baseman. Opening Day is cool and all, but it’s not exactly a milestone for the 21-year-old.

“Happy to be here from the start,” said Bogaerts, who didn’t join last year’s big-league squad until August. “It’ll definitely be a game like all the other ones; just a little more excitement to it on the first day of the year.”

The biggest difference for Bogaerts will be where he lines up on the infield. The shift back to his natural position at shortstop brings a smile to Bogaerts’ face.

“I did really well in spring training, so my confidence is pretty high, especially defensively. I’m ready for any ball that’s hit to me,” he said.

Credit that to a full spring with third-base coach Brian Butterfield, instead of the abbreviated one caused by Bogaerts’ participation in the World Baseball Classic last year.

“Huge steps forward,” said Bogaerts. “This year, I worked a lot, especially before the games, to prepare for when the game comes to just go with the flow.”

Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks still have a bit to prove defensively as a young left side of the infield.

“There are going to be growing pains as they settle in, and probably more with Xander, only because he’s in the very early stages of his own career,” Farrell said. “More than anything, they’re in a confident state of mind, and I’m looking forward to seeing them every day.”

Farrell has been impressed time and again by Bogaerts’ demeanor.

“I don’t think anyone has greater expectations than Xander himself,” Farrell said. “As we’ve seen, he takes everything in stride, and whether he’s dealing with things internally, he doesn’t show them to you. We do have some conversations that take into account some of the things he’s going to be thrust into. He takes everything with a smile and shows you that everything is under control.”

The Sizemore plan

Don’t accuse the Red Sox of not thinking ahead.

Asked whether he’s talked to Grady Sizemore about his first week of playing time, Farrell answered quickly.

“We’ve probably got the first six weeks mapped out,” Farrell said, “in terms of the number of games we target. That doesn’t say what specific dates they are, but we look at it a week at a time, with increasing workloads. There are going to be a number of factors that come into consideration.”